Page 27 of Shadow City: Silver Wolf

As he stood and faced me, I could see the spot where my foot had connected with his jaw. For the first time, I got a good view of him.

It was the guy who’d entered the bar behind Griffin and Luna.

His hair was dyed an awful ash blond, except for the dark brown sides. His long beard hit the top of the collar of his black shirt, connecting with the chest hair that spilled there. His hairy arms were almost as thick as his beard. I already suspected he was a bear shifter, and his grassy scent confirmed it.

"You're going to pay for that." He snatched my arm again and dragged me toward the exit.

Bear shifters were strong, but their arrogance worked against them.

"Let her go," Griffin commanded, alpha will lacing his words.

He was a fucking moron if he thought that would work on a bear, and massively egotistical if he thought that the bear would listen to him in the first place. He had no authority over them.

Confirming my suspicions, the bear shifter didn't loosen his grip on me. Instead, he tightened it and dragged me harder.

I might not have had a knife to my neck anymore, but that didn't mean I wasn't at risk of being taken. Doing the first thing that came to mind, I stuck my fingers into one of his knife wounds and made my hands like claws, breaking through fat and muscle. The wound needed to get worse, so I dug my fingers in hard, trying to get his brain to register the pain. With all theadrenaline pumping through his body, he probably hadn't even noticed he’d been stabbed.

He swung his free hand, aiming for my face, but I easily blocked it.

Dad had been right all along. If we didn’t know how to protect ourselves, we were screwed. I wished I could take back all of those times I talked smack about him or complained.

Because of him, I still stood here, surviving.

As I straightened, I pulled my hands out of his side and round-kicked the asshole in the stomach. He fell against the brick wall.

"We can take it from here," Killian said as he got closer.

Oh, hell no. This was all me.

I scooped the knife from the floor as Killian and Griffin reached me. They grabbed the guy by the arms as I ran behind the bear shifter and placed the knife against his throat. I leaned in and saw blood well from beneath the blade. "Who are you, and what do you want from me?"

"Go to hell." He spat in my face.

Nope, that wasn't acceptable. I elbowed him hard in the temple, knocking him unconscious, and let him crumple to the floor. "Stupid prick."

“Uh. Wow.” Killian snorted as he and Griffin released the guy, letting him drop to the floor.

I used the sleeve of my dress to wipe away the spittle. I wanted a showernow.

Sierra gasped, "She's freaking badass."

"Badass?" Luna scoffed. "Men are supposed to be the protectors, not us. That was extremely unladylike."

Oh, wow. Her beliefs were archaic. Good thing I wasn't raised that way, or I’d be captured or dead by now.

"Hey, are you hurt?" Killian rushed over to examine me.

"Look at her neck," Griffin said through clenched teeth. "The bastard cut her. I’m going to make him pay."

"I'm fine." Both of them were being a little too much. "Besides, I knocked him out cold. Everything will be okay, but I want answers."

I glanced down at my dress and cringed. Not only was I wearing this godforsaken thing, but I didn't have my knife on me because of the outfit. I needed better clothes and pronto.

Footsteps pounded in our direction. "What's going on here?" a deep, raspy voice asked.

"Daddy!" Luna sounded relieved. "A man attacked Dove."

So good ol' Dick Harding was here.

---